David Hawkins scored all 16 of his points in the second half as Temple beat Villanova 63-57 on Friday night to advance to the NIT semifinals in New York.

I don't have answers to how we won that ballgame. I really don't, Temple coach John Chaney said. If you told me we would have won without Lynn, I wouldn't have believed you.

Greer, Temple's leading scorer and senior leader, didn't play after spraining an ankle Tuesday. He wasn't in uniform Friday and wore a walking cast on his right foot.

Hawkins was 5-of-9 from the floor in the second half.

In the first half, I was not nearly as aggressive as I should have been, Hawkins said. I probably didn't take shots that I had. In the second half, I settled down a little bit. Coach said to attack more and that's what I tried to do.

Alex Wesby and Kevin Lyde each added 12 for Temple (18-14), which plays Tuesday at Madison Square Garden against the winner of Saturday's quarterfinal between Tennessee Tech and Memphis. Syracuse and South Carolina will meet in the other semifinal.

It's very important to us, especially for the guys who will be back next year.

Bryant made a 3-pointer to get Villanova within two points with 1:56 left. But Lyde blocked Derrick Snowden's drive with 20 seconds left, and Hawkins sank two free throws to give Temple a 61-57 lead.

Brian Polk jumped into a passing lane to make a steal with 10 seconds to go, sealing the outcome.

Sometimes you do a lot, but it's much too late. And that's what we're seeing in the NIT, Chaney said. I'm proud of them, not just because we won, but because of how we played.

Temple, known for its stifling matchup zone defense, spent much of the game playing man-to-man and forced Villanova into 14 turnovers. Temple had only three turnovers.

It (Temple's man-to-man defense) was a little bit of a surprise, Villanova coach Jay Wright said. But I've been saying this all year. That's the best way to play us. We're not a good ball-handling team.

Wright said Chaney did a good job getting a lot out of players who usually sit on the bench.

The guys that were playing tonight don't take minimal shots because they aren't good players. It's because of the system they play in, Wright said. So with Greer out, they're going to take a lot more shots.